Three questions with Jimmie Johnson

Wednesday

Feb 27, 2008 at 12:01 AM

Following on the heels of his championship-winning seasons in 2006 and 2007, Jimmie Johnson is attempting this season to become only the second driver in NASCAR history to win three consecutive Cup titles.

Jerry Bonkowski

Following on the heels of his championship-winning seasons in 2006 and 2007, Jimmie Johnson is attempting this season to become only the second driver in NASCAR history to win three consecutive Cup titles.
After finishing second to Carl Edwards in Monday's rain-delayed Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway of Southern California, Johnson was asked about how the new Car of Tomorrow performed in its first test on a two-mile oval – and with two other intermediate-size 1.5-mile tracks coming up next on the schedule:
Q. You were the most dominant driver last season with 10 wins in 36 starts. Several of those wins were in the new Car of Tomorrow, which is in full-time use this season after just 16 starts in 2007. Hendrick Motorsports, for which you race, had a huge advantage last season with the COT. With Ryan Newman winning at Daytona and Carl Edwards winning this past Monday, have other teams caught up to Hendrick Motorsports in figuring out the new car?
A. I think it's a little early to tell. The downforce tracks are new to everyone. When we go to the short tracks (Bristol, Martinsville, Phoenix and Richmond between mid-March and early May), we'll see if what works there is still like we would hope, if we still have good driving cars there.
Q. Is there pressure on the Hendrick group after dominating collectively, winning 18 of last year's races among yourself and your three teammates?
A. It's a new year and a whole new set of challenges that are being thrown at us. We weren't joking with everybody (on the preseason NASCAR media tour). We entered Daytona feeling like we were tied for last. We knew there was going to be a lot of tough races ahead of us, a lot of teams and drivers getting stronger, and we're seeing that (now).
Q. What did you learn about the new car during this past weekend's craziness, rain delays and the like at California?
A. I noticed the cars were much more sensitive. Racing nose to tail, you'd catch someone, get to a spot and then it would be difficult to run behind him. If the guy in front of you was smart, just look in the mirrors, he could see your line, screw you up and you'd lose 20 car lengths. It seemed to me like the aero was more important in this car than the (old) car. It's still the first downforce race we've had with (the new car). I'm sure we'll make it better. As (teammate Jeff Gordon) said, track position was extremely important – even more so than in the past.
Jerry Bonkowski is National NASCAR Columnist for Yahoo! Sports and a featured contributor to Gatehouse News Service. He can be reached at NASCARColumnist@Yahoo.com.

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